Walmart chief ecommerce manager Marc Lore resigns after bolstering retailer’s digital arm

Walmart’s ecommerce chief Marc Lore is stepping down at the retailer at the end of January, the company said in a filing Friday.

Stocks opened lower.

Lore, who was the point of fending off competition from rivals such as Amazon, joined Walmart in 2016 after the big box retailer bought the e-commerce website Jet.com, which he founded, for 3, $ 3 billion. Prior to Jet.com, Lore founded and ran other e-commerce and internet companies, including Quidsi and The Pit, Inc.

He was responsible for several strategic online acquisitions, including Bonobos and Moosejaw, to name a few. The goal, when he joined, was to quickly grow Walmart’s online business, which had fallen behind its competitors.

In the third quarter, e-commerce sales jumped 79%. The e-commerce business will report to John Furner, Executive Vice President, President and CEO of Walmart US following Lore’s exit. The company tells FOX Business, Furner and Lore worked in tandem, so “no further structural changes are needed at this point.”

Lore will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to Walmart until September.

As for his next move, he hinted at ReCode that it will help build “a city of the future” that will incorporate a “reformed version of capitalism” while refusing to elaborate.